Daryl Powell has confirmed that he plans to send centre Greg Minikin out on loan.
20-year-old Minkin joined Castleford from League One side York in the off-season and scored in the Tigers’ pre-season defeat to Bradford on Friday.
But with Michael Shenton, Jake Webster and Ben Crooks all vying for the same position, his opportunities might be limited in the Cas first-team this year.
Although Powell has faith in him stepping up, he has revealed that a spell in the Championship would be ideal at this stage.
“I think he needs to spend some time in the Championship at some point, which I’m working hard on. I think he needs to play at least a month there and we’ll take it from there.
“But he’s certainly capable of stepping up and playing in the first-team, I’d be pretty confident if he was in there. He’s got some competition in Ben Crooks and Jake Webster, so the challenge for him is once he gets in the first-team is to show he is easily capable of managing it.
“I think, if not straight away at some point this season he will play in the first-team and he’ll do well there.”
